outpatient and home advanced rehabilitation therapeutics using jintronix virtual reality telerehabilitation system

Conditions: Stroke

Summary: the use of virtual reality technology in a telerehabilitation service is not well established in singapore. this feasibility trial aims to evaluate the benefits of using jintronix to deliver a clinic-to-home, caregiver-supervised and individualised exercise telerehabilitation program to complement outpatient services and improve clinical outcomes for post-stroke users.

with the emphasis on improving population health, reducing the need for hospital care, and promoting self-management, it will be beneficial to make good use of current available technologies to complement centre-based therapy with cost effectiveness and efficiency. one mode of such care delivery to a patient's home is through a telerehabilitation system that enables remote monitoring of patients' participation and performance in individualised home exercises. in addition, timely review and adjustments in the home programs to cater to progress or changes in patients' performance can be carried out by therapists remotely. in the recent years, there has been an increased utilisation of virtual reality applications in physical rehabilitation for specific training objectives, such as, movement retraining, balance control and strength training. virtual reality exercises when prescribed with defined training objectives and duration can potentially be valuable to increase patients' training intensity in the comfort of their own homes. the majority of patients receiving outpatient and home based rehabilitation at tan tock seng hospital (ttsh) rehabilitation centre (rc) and centre for advanced rehabilitation therapeutics (cart) are patients who have had a stroke. hence this group of outpatients that are at least 3 months post-stroke will be recruited for this trial. it is hypothesized that they will benefit from increased intensity of upper limb, balance and/or gait rehabilitation with jintronix telerehabilitation system that facilitates them to further exercise at home and not just at the clinic. the study is thus designed to evaluate the feasibility of a novel telerehabilitation service based on the jintronix virtual reality platform to complement existing outpatient therapy services of ttsh rc (including its outpatient service arm at cart).

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * patients with motor deficits due to stroke as diagnosed by ct or mri, who are attending outpatient rehabilitation services at tan tock seng hospital rehabilitation centre and centre for advanced rehabilitation therapeutics * post stroke of at least 3 months with stable neurological status * 21-75 years old * able to perform at minimal level of assistance (i.e. carer provides only up to 25% of physical support) for sitting, standing and/or walking tasks * has a primary caregiver that must be present in all trial sessions * able to understand and participate in a 15 minutes jintronix trial during screening exclusion criteria: * has seizure history * has severe cognitive deficits, perceptual deficits, and/or emotional-behavioural issues * has unstable medical conditions which may affect participation (e.g unresolved sepsis, postural hypotension, end stage renal failure) or anticipated life expectancy of \<1 year due to malignancy or neurodegenerative disorder * has pain score of \>5 * is pregnant or breastfeeding * has known poor cardiac ejection fraction (\<30%) or lung function (fev1\<30%) * has non-weight bearing status in either lower extremities * has caregiver who is unable to meet competency requirements as assessed by study team

Keywords: rehabilitation, telerehabilitation, virtual reality